Maximum-speed governor for automobiles.



W'. R. VOORHE-ES.

MAXIMUM sIPEI-ID GOVERNOR FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16. I9I8.

lwm. Emma Apr. 29, 1919.

15 Il. 6 J1 .9 3%

` ATTORNEY WILSN E. VOORHEES, OF PERTH AMBOY, NEW

Leoaesa.

maximum-serien covnnnon ron nnroaroninns.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented ipuujggg llglliih Applicationdied February 16, 3933. Serial No. 217,55?.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that ll, WILSON R. Voonnnns, a-citizen of the United States,residing at Perth Amboy', in the county of Middlesex and State of NewJersey, have invented a new and useful Maximum-Speed Governor forAutomobiles, oi which the following is a specication.

'llhis invention has reference to maximum speed governors forautomobiles, and its object is to provide an attachment which may beapplied to the carbureter of the explosion engine ot an automobile,whereby the vehicle may be prevented from. attainin more than apredetermined maximum Spee The invention comprises an attachmentinterposable between the carbureter and intake manifold of the explosionengine, which ,attachmentincludes a valve, and has connections to thecanbureter whereby suction therein produced tends to close the/.valveand so throttle the intake to the engine. "The arrangement in such thatthe vehicle may start and attain a certain speed, but beyond :such speedthe suction of the engine is effective to actuate the throttle and cutdown the intake to an extent to prevent the engine from exceeding thedesired speed.

The invention is particularly useful in connection with'vehicles wherethe drivers are employees liable to exceed the desirable speed, whichspeed may be determined by trac regulations. With the invention, fullpower maybe obtained up to the predeter. mined speed, but such speedcannot be excelled, wherefore the vehicle owner is not open topenalizationby the speeding of the vehicles under the control ofirresponsible orcareless drivers.

llhe invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing forming part of this specification, with thefurther understandin that, while the drawin practica Vform of theinvention, t c latter is not conned to any strict conformitywith theshowing of the drawings but may Abe changed and modified so long as suchchanges and modifications come within the We of the appended claims.

n the drawing Figure 1 is an elevation of thel cylinders and carbureterof an automobile engine with the invention applied;

Fig. 2 is' a side elevation of theattachment shows. a

separate from the carbureter, and showing it as seen from the oppositeside to that viewed in Fig. 1, the showing being on a larger scale thanthat shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig.

1, with distant parts omitted, but drawn on Fig. 5 is a section on theline 5-5 ci Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, there is' shown in Fig. 1 yan outlinerepresentation ot an explosion engine 1, such as may be found upon anautomobile, and the showing ot the engine may be considered asrepresentative of ,any suitable automobile engine, or in fact, 0i' anyexplosion engine to which the invention is applicable. There is alsoshown in Fig. 1 a carbureter 27 which may be consid ered as of knowntype and indicative of any suitable type of carbureterv adapted for thepurposes of the present invention. No detailed description is given ofeither the engine or the carbureter, and mention is made of parts ofboth the engine and carbureter onlyin so far as is necessary for an`understanding of the invention.

,Between the manifold 3 of the engine, and the main conduit 4: of thecarbureter, there is locateda coupling 5 provided with terminal flanges6 introduced between the usual danges 7 and 8 on the-manifold andcarbureter respectively.- The coupling 5 forms 4part of the attachment,and is of. sucient coupling 1s an extension 11, inclosing part of achamber 12, the remainder of the chamber comprising a cap 13 made tastto the entension 11 by screws 14 or otherwise. The entension 11 may bein one piece with the coupling 5, and the coupling with its extension aswell as the cap 13 may be in the form of castings. The cap 13 is madeseparate from the extension 11 to permit access to the interior of thechamber 12. At one end, the extension 1 1 and cap 13 have cylindricalmatching portions 15 rippin a neclr 16 on one end of a cylinder 1%,there y holding the cylinder in place, the gripping being accomplishedby screws 18 similar to thescrews 14.

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The cylinder 1'( is provided at the end remote from the neck 16 with ahead 19 indicated as screwed on the cylinder, but it will be understoodthat the head 19 may be otherwise secured. Within the cylinder there islocated Ia piston 2O fast at one end to a pistonl rod 21 in turnconnected to a crank 22 within the chamber 12 and fast to the shaft 10.rPhe piston 2O is made to fit snugly yet freely in the cylinder 17,since it is not obligatory that the fit be a gas-tight one.

within the Cylinder-.17ml the Side of the s the interior ofthe cylinderth-rough the head 19 by a coupling 27 vis a pipe 28, leading to the ductt of the carbureter, to which duct [the pipe is connected rby a coupling29 or in .any other suitable manner, the arrangement' being such thatthe pipe 28 communicates with the carburetor near the outlet end of thelatter.

ln order lto prevent the formation. of air or l gas cushions within thechamber 12, passages 30 are bored through a suitable portion of thecoupling 5 so as to come close to the shaft 10 in a direction aboutperpendicular to the length of the shaft, and at another point, otherholes 31 are bored in intersecting relation to the first-named holes tooommlmicate with the atmosphere, those holes close to the sli-aft beingplugged attheir outer ends so that access may not be had directly to theshaft as would occur if the outer ends ofthe holes 30 were not plugged.'llhne t between the shaft 10 and its bearings adjacent to the chamber12 is sufficiently loose to permit ample air leakage between thepassages 30 and the chamber 12. 7

lin order'to prevent any tampering with the adjustments of the device,the screw 26 has a hole 32 bored through the head thereof,

. and the coupling 27 is provided with an ear 33 with a hole'/i boredtherein. This perl. mits the passage of a wire 35 through the holes tobe connected by a' seal 36 whereby unauthorized change yin theadjustment is prevented. Similar arrangements may be made 1n theIstructure vwherever parts can be removed and adjustments varied.

. When a vehicle equipped with the inven- 1 tion is intrusted to an'employeel for operaltion, the employer can be assured that a' certainspeed limitwill not be exceeded by the proper adjustment of theattachment. Then when the driver of the vehicle speeds up, the suctionproduced by the engine will raoaeei establish vacuum conditions throughthe pipe 28 to the corresponding' side of the piston 20, which vacuumconditions when the predetermined limit is reached, cause a movement ofthe piston 20 in opposition to the holding power of the spring 23. |Thisresults in a turning of the valve 9 through the piston rod 21, crank 22and shaft 10, to close i posely reduce the speed in order to maintainthe necessary power to run the vehicle. U der Isuch circumstances, anoperator will not attempt to exceed the fixed speed limit, since suchattempt must only result in failure.` ln this manner, the device isprotective of the interests of the owner of the vehicle who must intrustit to others to operate, and the liability of the owner for injuries dueto the carelessness or disobedience of the operators due to excessivespeed is entirely avoided. Even if the operator-be inclined to changethe adjustments lin order to attain higher speed, such change cannot bebrought about without detection', because of the sealing of all .pl-aceswhere access to the adjustments might be had to the extent of changingit.

What is claimed is :-y

1. An attachment for explosion engines for limiting the speed at whichthe engine may be run by an operator, comprising a icc coupling forlocation kbetween the carbuwhereby when the attachment is set an op-y.erator of the engine cannot run the latter`r above a predetermined.speed. ,l

2. An attachment for explosion engines forl positively limiting thespeed at which the engine may be run by an operator, comprising a valvefor introduction into the fuel conduit between the carburetorand-engine, pressure-,responsive means connected to the valve, a casingrwholly inclosing the presics sure-responsive means against access, and

means for adjustingthe pressure-responsive means and provided withmeanswhereby the adjusting means m 'y be sealed against unauthorizedmanipulation.

3. An attachment for explosion engines for establishing a predeterminedlimit at which the engine may run by. an operator, comisc neonatiprising means for controlling the amount of fuel directed to the engine,pressure-responsive means connected to the controlling' -n'xeans tocause the latter to act when the desired speed limit has heen attained,and means for sealing against unauthorized manipulation all parts of theattachment through which change of adjustment may loe effected, wherebythe attachment when installed and adjusted is proof against the runningIof the engine -ahove a predeten mined speed.

4. Mea-ns for establish-ing' apredetermined limit at which Van explosionengine may loe run by an operator, ,comprising a casing having a fuelduct introducilole hetween'the carbureter and vintahe manifold of theexplosion engine, means for controlling the amount of fuel passing fromthe carhureter to the intake manifold, actuatingl means for saidcontrolling,7 means responsive to the suction of the engine andcompletely housed within the casing against access, and regu latingmeans for the actuating means accessible at the exterior of the casingland constructed to he sealed against manipulation.

5. An attachment for explosion engines for limiting the speed hycontrolling' the fuel directed to the engine, comprising a coupling forinter-position between and connectingl a carburetor to the manifold ofthe explosion engine, a valve in the coupling for controlling the flowof fuel from thecarhureter to the manifold, a chamber structure carriedby the coupling, a cylinder carried by the chamber structure and fuminicating; therewith, va crank shaft carrying the valve and having itscranh end within the chamber, a piston rod extending into the chamberand connecting the or and piston, a spring engaging the piston on theside remote from the piston rod, a movable plate engaging the spring, anadjusting screw engaging the plate, a head for the cylinder carrying thescrew, and a pipe coinn'nunicating with the cylinder through said headand arranged to be coupled to the oarhureter adjacent to the outlet endthereof.

6. in attachment for explosion engines for limiting the speed hycontrolling the fuel directed to the engine, comprising; a coupling forinterposition between and connecting a carbureter to the manifold of theexplosion engine, a valve in the eomoling1 for controlling the flow offuel from the f carhnreter to the manifold, a' chamber structure carriedbythe coupling, a cylinder carried hy the cha-miner structure andcommunicating therewith, a cranlr shaft carryingu the valve and havingits' crank end der through said head and arranged to 1.oe-

coupled to the carloureter adjacent to the outlet end thereof, saldcoupling having tuousair passages between the chamher and theatmosphere.

'in istimony that l claim the foregoing as my own, l have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

(inne. L. Srnnnnwnnn 'llnoiniis Morinesnr.

